Making Peace
by Bohemian.Butterfly
Summary: After the bombing in the murder room, both Sharon and Andy are shaken by the events surrounding it. What Sharon's upset about goes beyond the events of the day and she needs some time to compose herself before she talks to Andy about it. That night, Sharon and Andy have a deep conversation that puts them on the road to making peace with both their choices and the events of the day.


A/N: This fic is based on a Tumblr ask by one of my followers, milquetoast-on-acid and was selected from a list of Kiss Ask Tumblr prompts created by knifeofdaudwall with some prompts borrowed from a post created by andrastesass on Tumblr. The ask for this fic was: A gentle "I love you: whispered after a soft kiss, followed immediately by a stronger kiss.Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or M/C, but if I did, this is what would happen. 

**Making Peace**

For the second time this week, Andy's heart had stopped. This was not a repeat performance of him collapsing on the murder room floor from another heart attack though. No, this was far more personal. This was the second time this week that his fiancée had been in close proximity to an explosion as a bomb went off right before his eyes.

He'd frantically begun calling Sharon's phone, but got no answer. With the size of the explosion, it had likely been damaged or destroyed either by the blast or the impact of Sharon hitting the floor to escape it. After hearing the sound of Sharon's voicemail, Andy hung up and immediately dialed Provenza's number. His partner always had his back and would've made sure Sharon got as far away from the blast as possible before the bomb went off.

Provenza had immediately handed the phone to Sharon, but despite having heard Sharon's voice telling him that she was alright, Andy was still anxious to see for himself that she was indeed okay. Luckily, there were other officers with him at the scene across the street where they'd just arrested their suspect. The patrol officers were able to take over and escort their suspect to booking for him. There may be some questions to answer later, but right now Andy didn't care about that. All he wanted to do was get to Sharon and make sure she was really okay.

As he walked back across the street towards the PAB, there were already officers taping off the scene and establishing a perimeter around the building. Andy flashed his badge at one of the patrol officers, but the officer put his hand up to stop him as he said, "Lieutenant, I can't let you cross the perimeter. There could be evidence pertinent to the investigation on the ground here and I can't have you walking through the scene."

"Are you kidding me? I just arrested the dirtbag scum who did this across the street at city hall. I work up on the ninth floor where that dirtbag just set off a bomb and you're telling me that I can't go up there to make sure my team is alright," Andy heatedly told the officer.

"Sir, I understand your concern, but they're coming down right now. Now, I don't want to have to call additional patrol officers over here to restrain you, but I will if I need to. Like I said, they'll be down here in a few minutes," explained the officer.

"Yeah, okay," replied Andy as he walked away from the officer and began pacing outside the building as he nervously rubbed at the back of his neck.

A few minutes later, Andy saw Sanchez, Sykes, Tao, Buzz, and Nolan walk out of the building without Sharon or Provenza. He quickly met them outside the perimeter before he asked, "What the hell's going on? Where's Provenza and Sharon?"

"They're both fine, sir. Just finishing up with Deputy Chief Howard in the lobby," answered Julio.

"Yeah. If it wasn't for the Captain's quick thinking, we all might've been standing there when the bomb went off," added Tao.

"Okay. Thanks guys," said Andy before the team walked over to the medics to get checked out and medically cleared.

A minute later, Andy saw Provenza walk out of the building without Sharon. As soon as Andy approached him, Provenza said, "She's fine, Flynn. Maybe a little banged up, but she's okay. She was just finishing up with Deputy Chief Howard when I left. She should be right behind me. In the meantime, she told me to make sure you don't bust through the perimeter or give the patrol guys hell."

"You're a little late for that second one. You good?" Andy asked him.

"Yeah. Although if I don't get checked out by the medics before I go home, I think Patrice might kill me," said Provenza.

"Go get checked out and call your wife. She's probably worried sick," Andy told him.

"Ye gods! You're not even married yet and you're already giving me marriage advice. Last time I checked I was the married one," Provenza complained as he walked off towards the medics.

A couple minutes later, Andy saw Sharon finally walk out of the building. As he raced over to her, she said, "You might wanna hold off on the hugs for a while. My ribs have taken a pretty good beating this week."

Andy smiled briefly at her joke before he took Sharon's hand in his and said, "Let's go get you checked out."

"Andy, I'm fine really," Sharon told him.

Andy glowered at Sharon before he said, "If I'm not mistaken, there is a rule surrounding this sort of thing."

Sharon glared back at Andy before she begrudgingly admitted, "Yes, there is. I'm only agreeing to this if you also let the paramedics check your blood pressure though. It's gotta be through the roof after all this."

"Deal," replied Andy as they walked off towards one of the available ambulances.

"What've we got here?" the female medic asked them.

"She was on the floor where the explosion happened. May have taken a hit to the ribs," Andy told the medic.

"Did you hit the ground?" the medic asked Sharon.

"Yeah," answered Sharon.

"Do you remember hitting your head at all?" the medic asked her.

"No. I was trying to get far enough away from the bomb before it blew, but ended up hitting the floor as it exploded," Sharon told her.

"Okay. I'm gonna have you put on this mask for a bit to treat any smoke inhalation. If you wouldn't mind lifting your shirt up a bit, I can check out your ribs to make sure nothing's broken," said the medic as she handed Sharon the oxygen mask.

"If you don't mind, he needs someone to check his blood pressure. He had a heart attack a few months back and he has a history of high blood pressure. Obviously, going after a bomber probably didn't help matters," explained Sharon as she threw Andy a Darth Raydor glare before putting on the oxygen mask.

"Sure. We can do that right now actually," replied the paramedic as she directed Andy to roll up his sleeve so she could attach the blood pressure cuff.

Andy sighed as he rolled up his sleeve and said, "This really isn't necessary."

The medic attached the cuff and took Andy's blood pressure before she said, "It is a bit higher than we like to see it. Have you taken your high blood pressure medication today?"

"I take one every night. So, I'm due to take another one tonight," Andy explained.

"That's good, actually. They tend to be more effective when you take them at night. You're blood pressure is a bit high, but I think between the dose you took last night and your dosage tonight, you should be okay. Obviously, if you start feeling worse though, you should definitely get checked out by a doctor," the medic told Andy.

"Okay, thanks," said Andy.

"Now, let's see those ribs," said the medic as she returned her attention back to Sharon.

Sharon lifted her shirt up enough so that the medic could inspect her ribs. When she did, Andy noticed quite a bit of bruising on her right side.

"I'm not sure if it's relevant, but she was also at the scene of another bombing earlier in the week," Andy told the paramedic.

"Did she have any bruising then?" the medic asked him.

"Some slight bruising to her ribs, but nothing like that," answered Andy.

"Okay. I'm gonna press down on these ribs a bit to make sure nothing's broken. I'll warn you, it might hurt a little bit," the medic told Sharon.

Andy took Sharon's hand in his as the medic began feeling around her ribs.

"It doesn't feel like anything's broken, just really bruised. Were you able to breathe okay after it happened?" the medic asked.

Sharon pulled her shirt back down and took the mask off before she said, "Yeah. No shortness of breath. Just some slight coughing from all the dust and smoke."

"Well, as far as I can tell, none of your ribs seem to be broken. Just really bruised and banged up. Honestly with a bit of ice, rest, and limiting your physical activity over the next week or so, they should heal up on their own. Of course, if you start having shortness of breath or anything like that, you should definitely get that checked out. I don't see a reason for either of you to be hospitalized though. So, you're both free to go," explained the paramedic.

"Thank you," Sharon told the paramedic as she stood up.

"Yeah, thanks for checking her out," Andy told her as he stood up as well.

"No problem. Just try to stay away from bomb scenes for a while," replied the medic.

"Oh, believe me, she will," replied Andy before he and Sharon walked away from the ambulance.

Sharon glared at Andy before she said, "Seriously?"

"What?" Andy asked her confusedly.

"You're one to talk about keeping out of danger. If you don't see what's wrong with disobeying a direct order and going across the street to confront a bomber, I'm not sure I can help you," said Sharon.

"Am I talking to my Captain or my fiancée right now?" Andy asked to gauge exactly where this conversation was going.

"Deputy Chief Howard has given the entire division the rest of the day off. As far as everything else goes, I need some time to collect myself before we have that conversation," Sharon told him.

"Okay. Let's go home then," said Andy as they began walking towards the parking garage.

* * *

As they began driving towards Los Feliz, Andy's phone rang. Seeing who the caller was, he immediately picked it up.

"Slow down, Rusty. Yeah, she's okay. I made sure she got checked out before we left. Her ribs are a bit bruised up, but other than that, she's fine. Yeah. Hold on," said Andy before he handed the phone over to Sharon.

"Hey, Rusty. I'm okay. Yeah, everybody else is okay too. No. I'll see you tonight. I love you too. Bye," said Sharon before she hung up the phone and set it on the center console.

Andy took the phone and stuck it back in his pocket before he reached over and took Sharon's hand in his. He'd been afraid that she'd pull her hand away at the contact, but she let her hand rest lightly in Andy's as she continued staring out the window.

* * *

Once they got back to the condo, Sharon told Andy she was gonna go take a shower. Andy headed for their bedroom and quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He went to the kitchen and quickly wrote a note for Sharon to let her know he'd be back in a couple hours before he grabbed his keys, phone, and wallet and left the condo.

Sharon saw Andy's note on the kitchen counter after she'd gotten out of the shower and changed into a pair of black leggings and one of Andy's old Dodger's t-shirts. After realizing that Andy had left, Sharon curled up on the couch with a blanket as she flipped through the TV channels until she settled on watching an old movie for a while.

* * *

When Sharon woke up a couple hours later, she figured she must've fallen asleep at some point because the credits were rolling on the movie she'd been watching. She quickly switched off the TV before getting up and making her way into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. As she took the mug out of the microwave and set the teabag in the hot water to steep, she heard the front door unlock. She heard Andy drop his keys on the table before the sound of footsteps could be heard making its way toward the kitchen. Sharon was moving the teabag around in her mug when she felt Andy's arms gently wrap around her waist as his chin rested against her shoulder.

"Where did you go?" Sharon asked him.

"To a meeting and then to get this," replied Andy as he slid a small bag in front of Sharon.

"What's this?" Sharon asked him.

"A peace offering," replied Andy.

Sharon reached into the bag and pulled out a brand new cell phone. A faint smile crossed her lips before she turned around to face Andy and said, "Thank you. I hope they didn't charge you too much to replace it."

"Nah. It was free. The insurance covered it," Andy told her.

"Good," said Sharon.

"You ready to talk?" Andy asked her.

"Yeah. Let's go out on the balcony," Sharon told him.

Andy quickly grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before following Sharon out onto the balcony. They each took a seat at the small bistro table. Sharon moved the teabag around in her mug a bit more before letting it rest against the inside of the mug.

"Andy, we need to have a discussion," Sharon began.

"I thought that's what we were about to do," replied Andy confusedly.

"We are. It's just…we need to have a serious conversation about you and your future with the LAPD. We've both been putting this conversation off for months now and I think we've finally reached a juncture where we need to discuss what comes next," said Sharon.

"I promise I'm not trying to be defensive this time when I ask this, but are we talking about this on a professional or a personal level?" Andy asked.

"Both I guess. If I'm honest though, at this point it's much more personal than professional," replied Sharon as she looked up and smiled at Andy.

"Okay," replied Andy as he smiled back at Sharon.

"Andy, I worry about you. All the time. I know you tell me that you're fine and that I don't need to worry about you, but I do. You had a heart attack in the middle of the murder room. You could've…" Sharon trailed off as she turned her head away from Andy as tears began streaming down her face.

Andy grabbed both of Sharon's hands in his before he said, "I know. If the last week has shown me anything, it's that…" Andy trailed off emotionally.

"What?" Sharon asked Andy as she ran her thumb along his cheek.

"That moment…the moment when you're not sure if the woman you love is dead or alive. When you're not sure if she's lying on the ground dead somewhere or if she survived…I'm not gonna lie…that feels like shit," explained Andy.

"I know. I'm sorry I made you worry like that," said Sharon.

"No. That's not what I meant by that. You have nothing to apologize for, Sharon. I'm the ass here," said Andy.

"You are?" Sharon asked questioningly.

"I am and I'm so sorry for all the crap I've put you through these last few months," said Andy.

"It wasn't all bad," replied Sharon as she held up her right hand and smiled as she displayed her engagement ring proudly.

"No, it wasn't. I'm not letting you let me off the hook that easily though," said Andy.

"It's not about me letting you off the hook, Andy. I can't pretend to know everything you're going through with all the changes that have been happening since your heart attack, but I know none of it could've been easy for you. If there's one thing I do understand though, it's that having to make making difficult decisions about your career is never easy," said Sharon.

"You're right. It hasn't been easy and I appreciate everything you've done both personally and professionally to give me time and room to navigate through all of this. I know that can't have always been easy for you either," replied Andy.

"As long as I've known you, you've always been stubborn. When I was still working in FID, I used to think you lived to be a pain in the ass. Now that I've gotten to know you a lot better, I've changed my mind about that. Now I see that stubbornness in a more positive light. Don't get me wrong, you're still stubborn sometimes. Behind all of that though is a man who is passionate and stands up for what he believes in and that is one of the many reasons why I love you," Sharon told him.

"I love you too, Sharon. So much. Which is why this whole job limbo nonsense needs to stop. I've put you through so much already with the blood clot surgery and then the heart attack. I don't want you having to worry all the time about whether I'm gonna collapse on the ground somewhere because my blood pressure got too high or that I might not come home one night because the stress of the job kills me. There are things about being a cop that are dangerous and part of the job and then there are things that happen as a result of years of bad decisions and pouring yourself into a high stress job. I'm not willing to let this job kill me. I've got too much to live for. I'm just not sure what comes next for me if I'm not a cop," admitted Andy.

"I know you're not crazy about the idea of retirement and I know you weren't ready to talk about all of this before, but while I've been giving you time and space, I've also been doing a little research of my own," said Sharon.

"What kind of research?" Andy asked her.

"Alternatives to you retiring from the LAPD. Of course, the decision is entirely yours, but you do have a couple options," Sharon told Andy.

"Such as?" Andy asked her.

"Well, you could promote up to a Captain's position. You wouldn't be required to roll out with your team and you'd generally either be at a desk or directing your team's actions from the unit itself or a mobile command unit. You'd obviously be working in a different division, but it's an option," said Sharon.

"I love you, but seeing all the paperwork and politics you had to deal with as a Captain and now as a Commander, I don't think I can see myself dealing with all of that stuff. The amount of paperwork alone would probably stress me out as much as being in the field does," Andy commented.

"I thought you'd say that. I know how much you hate politics and paperwork. So, I came up with a second option that I think you might like better," said Sharon.

"I'm listening," Andy told her.

"Well, Assistant Chief Mason has been talking to me a lot lately about how we can make Major Crimes better and improving upon what we're already doing. We have RACR and all of this fancy equipment, but we could definitely be utilizing it better and more often during investigations. So, I was thinking if you were interested in something like that, the idea might just happen to come up in one of my monthly meetings with the Assistant Chief. You've already been working with Buzz and coordinating quite a bit of it anyway since you came back from medical leave a few months ago. I'm sure Buzz would be happy to show you more and I could probably even convince Mason to send the two of you to a couple training seminars to learn even more about the equipment if you guys want to. Plus, Deputy Chief Howard also mentioned that he'd be willing to let you guys shadow McGinnis and her team on some cases to see how they utilize their equipment as well," said Sharon.

"You've already talked to Fritz about this?" Andy asked her.

"The possibility might've come up in conversation after one of our monthly meetings with the Assistant Chief," Sharon answered vaguely.

"I'm definitely intrigued by this idea, but I won't let you float it to Mason. We've worked so hard to keep our personal and professional lives as separate as possible and I know it's really important to you that we do that and honestly it's important to me too. I don't want my fiancée floating around the idea of creating a position to the Assistant Chief and then suggesting me for it. It just reeks of privilege and favoritism and I don't want either of our professional reputations tainted with something like that," Andy pointed out.

"I've thought about that too. Luckily, I think I've found a way around that," said Sharon.

"Why am I not surprised?" replied Andy as he gestured for Sharon to continue.

"Just like you tend to walk right up to the line without crossing it, I'm more than capable of finding ways around the rules without breaking them. When Deputy Chief Howard and I discussed this possibility before, he may have offered to float the idea to Mason himself by citing not having enough manpower to contract out him and his people to all the other units within the LAPD and suggesting the possibility of creating positions within the larger divisions like Vice, Robbery/Homicide, and Major Crimes. If you think about it, it's actually a really great idea not only for our division, but for the other divisions and SOB as well. SOB will be better able to provide support to other divisions. Plus, I think both Deputy Chief Howard and I are hoping that maybe this will keep Winnie Davis off our backs about bigger divisions jumping in front of smaller divisions when it comes to valuable resources such as the technology we use in RACR. So, really everybody gets something out of it in the end," Sharon pointed out.

"I think I'm beginning to see how you've managed to rise up the ranks like you have all these years. You have an innate knack for bureaucracy and departmental politics," Andy told Sharon.

"Hardly. I just know the rules better than at least ninety five percent of the officers in the LAPD," replied Sharon proudly.

Andy laughed at Sharon's comment before he looked at her and said, "I'm willing to consider the opportunity if everything falls into place without either of us having to compromise our professional ethics. For now though, there's something else I'd rather talk about."

"What would that be?" Sharon asked curiously.

"How glad I am that you're okay," replied Andy as he gently squeezed Sharon's hand and smiled at her.

Sharon smiled back at Andy before she said, "Me too. Although, I'd say okay is a subjective word for it."

"Your ribs still pretty tender?" Andy asked concernedly.

"Yeah. It probably didn't help that I fell asleep on the couch for a while either," Sharon pointed out.

"Well, why don't we get some ice on those ribs and then I'll get you the take out menus and let you decide what to order for dinner," suggested Andy.

"You sure are good at peace offerings," Sharon joked.

"Well, I get in trouble enough that I should be a pro at it by now," Andy joked back.

As they walked into the kitchen together, the sound of Sharon's laughter filled the room and Andy decided that he was never been more grateful for such a happy sound. It might seem simple, but they had both survived the chaos and turmoil of the day and that's all that mattered to them at the moment.

Sharon and Andy walked into the kitchen together before Andy opened the freezer and went about making Sharon a makeshift ice pack. Sharon decided to build on Andy's previous statement about getting into trouble and began poking fun at him about moments when he'd really stepped in it. Andy responded by simply shaking his head and smiling like an idiot as he watched Sharon laugh about his antics.

Andy turned around to smile at Sharon as he handed her the ice pack and said, "Here. This should help."

"Thank you," replied Sharon thankfully as she smiled at Andy.

As Sharon settled the ice pack against her side, Andy carefully pulled Sharon towards him and placed a gentle kiss against her lips before he whispered, "I love you."

Sharon smiled and intertwined her free hand with his as she responded to his words with a deeper kiss before she replied, "I love you too, Andy."

A minute later, both of them snapped out of the daze that they were in as Andy suggested, "How about I go find the take out menus?"

"Yeah," replied Sharon as she smiled at Andy before gently squeezing his hand and letting it go.

As Andy went about locating the take out menus, he couldn't help but think about how lucky he was that a woman as amazing as Sharon wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. Today they'd been lucky and tomorrow was never guaranteed, but if anybody realized the value of life and time spent together it was them. They'd been through quite a bit together in the last year or so and while things hadn't always been rosy, it certainly put into perspective for them the importance of being present with each other and savoring moments both big and small. 

A/N: As always, please leave me a review to let me know what you thought of this story. Any feedback or constructive criticism is much appreciated! Also, a huge thanks to all of you for your continued support and feedback on my other stories (both here and on Tumblr). As a writer, it is both invaluable and greatly appreciated!


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